Healthcare Attribution Windows India 2026 — Why 7-Day is Wrong | ICG

Author: Deep Das · Co-Founder, ICG · IIT BHU · July 2026

Google's default attribution window is 7 days for click conversions. Meta's default is 7 days post-click, 1 day post-view. These windows were designed for e-commerce, where the average purchase decision takes hours to days.

Healthcare consideration cycles run 14 to 180 days depending on specialty. Using a 7-day attribution window for IVF marketing — where the median consideration cycle is 90-180 days — is like measuring a 26km marathon at the 1km mark and concluding nobody finished.

Consideration cycles by specialty

What 7-day attribution misattributes

For an IVF clinic running a 7-day attribution window:

A patient clicks a Google Ad in January. Doesn't book. Returns to the site in February (not clicking an ad). Books a consultation in April. Attends in April.

What 7-day attribution shows: January Google Ad = 0 conversions (consultation happened 90 days after click). April direct visit = 1 conversion (last-touch within 7 days).

What actually happened: The January Google Ad started the patient journey. The April consultation is attributable to that ad, with time-decay weighting.

The campaign manager who sees 0 conversions from the January Google Ad reduces budget for that campaign. The January Google Ad was actually the most important touchpoint in the patient's journey. The budget reduction decreases future performance.

This systematic misattribution of early-funnel channels causes healthcare marketing campaigns to under-invest in awareness (YouTube, Meta awareness, SEO) and over-invest in bottom-funnel retargeting (the only channel with conversions visible in 7-day windows).

Beacon's 180-day attribution window

ICG's Beacon platform configures attribution windows by specialty — matching the attribution window to the actual consideration cycle.

For IVF clients: 180-day attribution. Every touchpoint in a patient's 180-day pre-consultation journey is recorded and attributed with time-decay weighting.

For dental clients: 30-60 day attribution. Shorter cycle, shorter window.

Monthly attribution reports from Agency OS show:

• First-touch attribution (which channel started the journey)
• Last-touch attribution (which channel was the final touchpoint)
• Time-decay multi-touch attribution (ICG's primary attribution model — gives more credit to early touchpoints that started the journey, less to the retargeting ad at the end)

The time-decay model consistently shows that YouTube, Meta awareness campaigns, and SEO organic contribute 40-60% of IVF consultation attribution — despite being invisible in the standard 7-day last-touch window.

FAQ

Q1: How does extended attribution affect campaign optimisation decisions? With 180-day attribution, Google Smart Bidding's learning period extends. The algorithm needs 50 conversions per month to exit learning — with a 180-day window, conversions from 6 months of ad history contribute to the current learning pool. For new accounts, ICG uses a shorter micro-conversion window (WhatsApp click, page depth) during the initial learning period, then transitions to full CPQL events once sufficient data accumulates.

Q2: Does Hawk's re-engagement data feed back into the attribution model? Yes. Hawk re-engagement consultations are attributed back to their original first-touch event (the campaign that generated the initial enquiry). A patient who first enquired from a Google Ad in January, fell into limbo, was re-engaged by Hawk in March, and attended a consultation in April — that consultation is attributed to the January Google Ad with appropriate time-decay weighting. This prevents Hawk re-engagement from appearing as "attributionless" consultations.

Compliance note: DPDP Act 2023 (data retention for attribution records).